Tag Archives: united-kingdom

I was referred to a www.Housing-Rights.info in a FOI Response from Worcester City Council. I noticed that the website actually presented inaccurate information. I therefore informed them of this inaccurate information, and requested that they correct the information.

Family members who are not themselves EEA nationals must apply for a residence permit within three months of arriving in the UK: the permit must be issued within six months of the application.

Applications for residence documentation in line with the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006 is entirely optional. No application is required. This information is correctly advised by the Home Office in Chapter 2 of the European Operations Policy in Section 1.1:

As I am sure you are aware, Article 25(1) of the Citizen’s directive (2004/38/EC) which the 2006 regulations transpose into UK legislation outlines that application for any residence documentation cannot be a prerequite for a beneficiary to be granted their rights. This has infact been held binding in UK law in the High Court – in the case of Okuoimose v City Facilities Management (UK) Ltd UKEAT/0192/11/DA – outlining that rights can be established using other means of proof.

Priority need

‘dependent children’ live with you (under 16s or under 19s if they’re studying full-time)

you’re ‘vulnerable‘, eg as a result of old age or disability

you’re homeless after a flood, fire or other disaster

You may be entitled to Housing Benefit to help with your housing costs. If you are claiming Housing Benefit, ensure that you specifically request the local council to assess you for “Local Council Tax Reduction” as this is an entirely different benefit.

Also, an additional piece of legislation may help if you have children: Section 17 of The Childrens Act 1989 puts a duty of care on the local authority for children living in their area – regardless of their/their parents immigration status. Section 17(6) specifically stating:

(6) The services provided by a local authority in the exercise of functions conferred on them by this section may include [providing accommodation and] giving assistance in kind or . . in cash.

I am in no way suggesting that people coming home go directly to their local councils. Please try and ensure that you aren’t going to end up on the streets when you return home to the UK. However, If you arrange to sleep on a mates sofa, you are still considered as homeless.

The local personal reference number in the United Kingdom is called a National Insurance Number (or NINo for short). A NINO is usually in the format of LLNNNNNNL (where L represents a letter and N a number).

A national insurance number is used for pretty much everything from taxation, to applying for a driving licence. Further information can be viewed here:

You can only obtain a NINO if you intend to do one of the following things:

Work

Become self employed

Claim state benefits (IE: Child Tax Credits, Child Benefit ETC)

Get a student loan

To apply for a National Insurance Number you need to arrange an ‘Evidence of Identity’ interview for you or send you a postal application. If relevant, they will confirm the date, time and location of your interview and what information/documentation you need to support your application. The documentation is usually:

A visa showing that you have valid leave to remain (or documents that confirm this – IE: the same kind of documents which would be submitted in support of an EEA2/EEA Family Permit Application).

Proof of Identity (Passport, Driving Licence ETC)

Proof of Address (Bank Statements, and Utility Bills)

If you have the right to work in the UK (and as an EEA National / Family Member you do), you can telephone Jobcentre Plus on telephone: 0845 600 0643 to arrange to get them to begin the process of issuing a national insurance number. Lines are open Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm and are normally less busy before 9am. You can apply for your nino on a postal application. However this would require sending off a number of documents.

If you can’t find your National Insurance Number – but already have one, you can ask HMRC to confirm it by:

completing and returning form CA5403 – Your National Insurance number

contacting the National Insurance Registrations Helpline on telephone 0300 200 3502 (lines open 8.30 am to 5.00 pm Monday to Friday). You will be asked some questions to confirm your identity. If you can answer these questions correctly HMRC will send your National Insurance number by post. If you can not answer the questions you will need to complete form CA5403.

HMRC cannot confirm your National Insurance number by telephone. They will write to you instead.

You can drive in Great Britain on a full, valid driving licence from another EU country until you’re 70, or for 3 years after becoming resident in Great Britain, whichever is longer.

You don’t have to exchange your licence, but follow these steps if you want to:

Order form D1 from DVLA.

Send the form, the £50 fee and any documents you need to (including your driving licence) to the address on the form.

You should get your new licence within 3 weeks.

Please note: You can only drive in Great Britain for 12 months if you got your EU licence by exchanging your non-EU licence.

Why would you wish to exchange your driving license?

There are a few reasons that you may wish to exchange your driving license for a UK License. These might be making getting an International Driving Permit simpler or even getting cheaper car insurance quotes.

So, like in Ireland, Three UK offer an All You Can Eat data package. They have a number of quite impressive offers.

The current best offer is the One Plan. You can currently get a 30 day rolling sim only contract for just £18.00 a month. This includes the following:

2,000 any network, any time minutes

5,000 Three to Three minutes

5,000 Text (SMS) Messages

All you can eat data package

I would personally prefer a fixed line – which would give better download speeds (IE: Fibre Broadband from Virgin or BT) but for some people, the waiting time to get internet might just be beneficial to take out a contract which gets you online the *same day*. (No waiting for a telephone line install. No waiting two weeks for broadband activation.

Much like in Ireland (See: Which Mobile Network Should I use in Ireland) you can use an Android mobile as a WiFi hotspot / router. There are also cheaper Sim Only 30 day plans (and even cheaper plans if you wish to commit to a lengthy contract).

So: What are download speeds like? I just did this speed test from my laptop tethered via wifi to my Samsung Galaxy Ace mobile telephone (When I use my S3 to tether it is actually faster due to the improved hardware).

Three UK Broadband Speed Test Internet

Other Internet Service Providers:

There are many other ISPs (Internet Service Providers) in the UK. Obviously you can use pretty much any mobile network data package (but this can get expensive). Alternatively, you can sign up to an ADSL service such as that offered from The Post Office, Orange (Everything Everywhere), ETC or even get Fibre Optic Broadband from BT/Virgin ETC.

The Home Office have released some New EEA regs so as to attempt to curtail The Surinder Singh Route by asking whether the ‘centre of life’ of the EEA National (British Citizen) has relocated to the host member state.

Regardless of what happens with this amendment to legislation, it is wise to remember: Both The Directive and previous Case Law have not been changed. Only the UK’s interpretation of this. This amendment comes following the release of the clarification from the EC in 2009 (yes, in 2009, it has taken over four years to enact changes… perhaps this is due to a rather recent BBC broadcast).

Need any clarifications about this new instrument? As outlined in the above legislation explaination memorandum: